Twelve
James half pulled, half dragged me back to my room, and he wasn’t particularly gentle about it. During that time, my mind raced. Was he going to give me a spanking? Would it be unbearable? Could he make me cry? Would he pull one of his medical stunts, like he did back at Elite Encounters? Oh shit, what had I just done? I was now handcuffed to a madman, and about to pay the price.
When we got back to my room, he picked me up and dumped me on the bed. Plucking a key out of his pocket, he then unlocked his cuff, only to refasten it to a metal headboard, which hadn’t been there earlier.
“Before you even think about escaping, Lois, I’ve drilled the headboard into the floor with nine inch nails.” He then grabbed the base of my T-shirt, and even though I knew what he was about to do before he did it, I still couldn’t help my eyes wincing.
“You wouldn’t,” I whispered, already knowing that he would.
“Watch me.” His face was grim as he ripped my shirt in two from the bottom all the way to the top.
It was bizarre, but I felt much more vulnerable like this, and considering I’d been crawling around naked earlier, that thought might need to be examined. Mind you, I hadn’t been handcuffed to the bed back then.
“Right, stay there and don’t get up to any trouble while I go and gather a couple of things. The cuffs have been double locked, so best of luck trying to pick them in the five minutes I’ll be gone.” With that, he turned his back on me and the door clicked quietly shut behind him. I was then left to sweat it out. A few ferocious tugs at the ornate metal bedpost confirmed that James had not been lying when he’d said he’d screwed it to the floor. It didn’t budge an inch. Knowing that I had nothing on my person in which to pick a lock, I didn’t even bother tampering with them. Picking them would take far more time than I had, in any case. Think, Lois. Think. But no amount of thinking could come up with a solution of how to get the better of someone a good degree stronger than I was, while I had a hand cuffed to the bed. It was possible that I could get him in some kind of hold, and in enough pain that he might release the handcuff key, but it was a long shot at best. I was trying desperately to come up with another plan that was more likely to succeed when James re-entered the room with a super-sized dildo and a bottle of what looked suspiciously like lubricant. All coherent thought flew out of my head.
“You bring that thing near me and I’ll kill you,” I said. I meant it, too. Whether I could carry through with that threat was anybody’s guess, but my eyes shot sharp metal daggers in his direction.
He stopped and slowly turned his head to stare at me before releasing a killer grin. “You’re welcome to try, darling, but I think the odds of me getting through this alive are pretty favourable. Besides, in a few minutes time, I give you my personal guarantee that you’ll have forgotten your own name. If I do my job properly, you might even forget to breathe.” He began unbuttoning his casual white shirt, and I think both of his premonitions came true almost instantly.
“Why are you doing that?” There might have been a sliver of fear in my voice, but there was arousal, too. James was entirely wrong for me, but in all the right ways.
“Are you scared, Lois?” His tone of voice was goading, and I knew he wanted a reaction from me.
“Just curious. Do you fuck all your trainees? Is that a perk of the job?” That fired the ball back in his court, and sure enough, his face darkened.
“You’re my first trainee, Lois, so I’m not sure yet. There’s not much call for this kind of training normally, which is a damn shame, but there you have it.” The shirt was now fully open, and he draped either side over his shoulders until it slid gently down his back. An eight pack of fully ripped abdominal muscles greeted me, and I think I nearly ruptured my spleen as a fistful of desire smacked me straight in the chest. The ball, Lois. Where is the ball? Oh, right.
“Well, I hope you have fun. I’ll just lie here and think of England,” I said, twiddling a lock of my hair.
He laughed out loud then. “I can see why Sharkey employed you. Even when you’re rattled, you put up a good fight. Relax, Lois. I’m not going to have sex with you.”
I wasn’t sure whether I was relieved or disappointed. Hopefully that meant James couldn’t figure it out, either.
“You’re going to have sex with lots of different people in La Carte Blanche, though. So if the thought of having sex with me is so unpalatable, are you sure you’re going to be able to cut it when you’re amongst the big guns?”
“Yes.” My response was self-assured and I meant it. James was the problem. Ninety-nine percent of the male population didn’t bother me in the slightest, and sex could be cold and clinical when I wanted it to be. This wasn’t the first time I’d been required to have sex whilst on assignment, and it usually went without a hitch.
“So what’s your problem with me?”
“Let’s not do this now,” I said, shaking my head.
“I don’t think it will be any easier doing it later, Lois, but I’m game if you are.” He held up the dildo and the bottle of liquid lubricant, and I knew exactly what he was thinking. Let’s question her when she can’t think straight. If my session at Elite Encounters was anything to go by, he was not going to play nice. Shit. I was doomed. Get that handcuff key and get it fast, I told myself, trying to focus on where James might have hidden it.
“Oh, and Lois?” In his hand was the object of my desire. He was waving it from left to right so that it almost sparkled in the light. I had a bad feeling about this.
“Yes, darling?” I purred, determined not to let him know that he was bothering me.
That made him pause. Score one for me.
“It’s darling now, is it?” he asked with an amused sidelong glance at me.
“Well, this is the second time I’ve taken my clothes off for you, and I find the word ‘Sir’ slightly too formal for my tastes.” So what if I was signing my own death warrant. I figured I might as well go down in flames.
James made a great show of hooking the keyring over the door handle, and I wanted to scream, but somehow I managed to hold it together. There went my only escape plan. Fuck.
Meanwhile, he stared at me intently, as if waiting to see whether I would crack. It would take more than a dildo. He should have been able to figure that out by himself.
“Well, I can see I’m going to have a fun few days in store for me, Lois. Wish I could say the same for you.” The man advanced towards me slowly, as if cornering a frightened animal, carrying his instruments of torture in his right hand. When he reached the headboard, he set them down on the bedside cabinet. Hearing the squeak of the drawer, I turned around to find he hand another set of handcuffs grasped in his fingers.
I snorted. “So you can handcuff that one, too? You must think I’m absolutely crazy, Mr. Leveritt.”
Tilting his head to one side, James smiled. “We’ve gone from darling to Mr. Leveritt in less than two minutes. It’s an improvement. You’ll be saying Sir in no time.” I snorted again. It wasn’t a particularly pretty noise, but I didn’t care.
“Lois, you have three seconds to give me your hand or I’m going to spank that ass of yours red raw, then fuck you so hard you’ll see stars.”
“That’s funny. I’m pretty sure you said earlier that you weren’t going to fuck me, and it’s going to be really hard trying to spank me, as I’m sitting on my ass.” Apparently they were the wrong words to say, because no sooner had they left my lips than James had pounced upon me. With a knee in either side of my rib cage, he pressed his chest into my wriggling body to flatten me, but I didn’t give up without a fight. Although aware that I was scrambling around for a lost cause, I gave him all that I had, and let me tell you it wasn’t easy without the use of one arm.
The struggle was short-lived, as I knew it would be. He had my wrist in his grasp and an iron shackle around my one free remaining hand in less than ten seconds. I couldn’t help a scream of frustration.
Sitting on my waist, thankfully supporting most of his weight with his legs, he frowned at me.
“Lois. Why are you fighting me? You went to a great deal of trouble to make sure I took you on, yet here you are trying to slam your fists against my chest. You can go home any time you like, sweetheart, and it would be much better for me all round if you did.”
It was clear James thought I was soft in the head, and who could blame him? Had my instructor been anyone else, I would have done exactly as I was told. That was the normal protocol. Get in, obey orders, and get the hell out as quickly as possible. The trouble was that I couldn’t think straight around James. Wanting to scream again, but knowing I was in enough trouble already, I bit my lip. He tilted his head, looked me straight in the eye, and frowned again.
“Do you want to go home, Lois? I can have you out of these cuffs in a jiffy. All you have to do is say the word.” He stroked my cheek with his index finger and I shuddered. The chemistry was instant, shocking, and his touch literally burned me. It was a headache I didn’t want or need.
Taking a deep breath, I asked, “James, is there any chance you can get a different instructor to train me?” I said it in a nice, pleasant, friendly way, and hoped I’d get a decent response. It was about the only card left to me, so I might as well play it.
“Ah, now we’re getting somewhere,” he said as he began to spread my legs, settling himself in between them.
“Why do want a different trainer, Lois? Don’t you think I’m up to the task?” His hands were running up the insides of my legs, and the contact was powerful and intense, though his hands were soft and light.
“I… what… are you… doing?” His fingers were reaching for dangerously high ground, and I wasn’t sure I could take another round of the magic he dealt.
James looked up at me innocently and blinked. “Performing a strip search. In order to make sure you stay where you’re supposed to be, I’d better make sure you have nothing on your person which might enable you to get out of those cuffs.” His fingers reached the top ‘V’of my thighs, and I squeaked in panic. “Why do you want a different instructor, Lois? Last chance to answer the question before I up the stakes on my interrogation techniques.”
I didn’t like the sound of that. “Wait!” My voice was hoarse, and I had to swallow down the almost impossible lump that was lodged there. Thankfully the man was true to his word, and his hands stopped in their tracks.
“I’m listening.” His ice-blue eyes focused on me, and if naked chests could talk, this one was saying, why the hell are you still talking? No, wait, that was what the rest of my body was saying, and it had a point.
“We kind of have a history. I think it would be better if I started from a blank slate. Someone I don’t know, haven’t met before…” I was babbling, and it was clear by his amused expression that he knew it.
“You don’t know me, Lois. You’ve met me twice before, for a couple of hours on each occasion. I hardly think that classifies us as friends.” His fingers renewed their approach to the landing strip, and in order to avoid them, my legs flailed about on the bed. As he had his legs lodged in between them, my effort was wasted.
“Relax, Lois. You’re far too uptight. That will have to change, and I have a feeling I know just how to loosen you up. When was the last time you had an orgasm?”
My eyes nearly popped out of my head. My mouth opened and then closed again, because there was no way I was going to answer that question.
“Gone shy on me, Lois?” He chewed his bottom lip for a minute as if considering something, and then said, “No matter, I’ll be able to tell in a few minutes, anyway.” With that, he fastened his mouth on my clit whilst he worked two fingers inside me. His hypnotic eyes still stared at mine, as if daring me to object. I yanked on the cuffs and hustled my backside as far as I could up the bed, but there was nowhere to go.
“I find you far too attractive, damnit!” I yelled. As far as last ditch attempts went, it was poor, but I didn’t have anything else.
He stopped what he was doing, licked his top lip very slowly, as if knowing the act gave me heart palpitations, and then sat back up. Good God, Lois, my subconscious screamed. What the hell are you doing? I ignored it.
“Well, I guess that’s a good thing,” he said. My mouth hung agape yet again.
“It’s a what? Why on earth would it be that? I can hardly think straight with you around.” I was about to start babbling again, so I snapped my teeth together and held them tightly shut.
“It means I’m your worst case scenario. If you don’t find someone attractive, you’ll sail through your assignment without too many problems, right?” I nodded my head slowly, not trusting myself to speak. Thankfully, he seemed satisfied with that. “So, if you get inside Carte Blanche and you find Alain or one of his delightful henchmen sexy, you’re going to have a hard time focusing on what you should be doing, yes?”
What the hell had James just said? I nodded anyway and tried not to stare at the chest. “This way, you’re practising your worst case scenario before you even get there. I’m the best thing that could have happened to you, sweetheart. Now you get a chance to work out how you’re going to manage to keep a clear head with all those naked bodies, rope, chains, whips, and cuffs flying around. Just sit back and enjoy it, darling.” With that, he promptly returned to feasting between my legs.
After two minutes, I gave up all pretence of squirming. James knew what he was doing, and I was past being able to resist. My body was strung tighter than a pro tennis racket, and there was a certain part of my anatomy that was dying to have some balls thrown at it. The last time I’d been heading for an orgasm this intense had been in Elite Encounters, and I was keen to replay the feat.
His tongue was my undoing. Soft, velvety, and extremely talented, it plundered my depths over and over, but always returned to suck and nibble at my clit. At first, I tried to keep my moans and groans to myself, but it shortly became clear that wasn’t going to be an option for me. As soon as my body went boneless, my mind lost all the necessary superglue that usually held it together. I’ve heard people say that men think with their pants, but I’m here to confirm women are just as bad. Most of my brain was resting at the tops of my thighs right now, and the miniscule part that was left was begging for James to finish what he’d started. The perverse man must have heard it, for he chose that moment to stop.
“I think I remember you telling me quite clearly that you did not want an orgasm from me. Is that correct?” His wet lips glistened, and I had the insane urge to taste myself upon them. The damn handcuffs were going to drive me crazy.
“I think you must have misheard me. I don’t remember saying any such thing,” I lied. In acute pain, now that his tongue had stopped, I wanted to howl, but I wasn’t the one calling the shots. But oh, I so wished I was.
He shook his head at me before giving me a wicked grin. “Tsk, tsk, tsk, Lois. My memory isn’t that bad. I think someone has just earned themselves a spanking, if they hadn’t already, which you had.” My stomach dropped. I did not want a spanking. There was only one thing I wanted right now, and it didn’t involve pain - quite the opposite, in fact.
“Can’t we just skip the spanking? It must be about three in the morning,” I whined. My clit pulsed petulantly and my lips formed a sulky pout.
“It’s nearer four, and you can never skip a spanking,” he said. “You’ll never learn if we don’t administer punishments every time you do something wrong. So far today you’ve been caught sneaking around, gone behind my back, and lied to me. It’s something we need to address. So what’s it to be, Lois? If you don’t choose quickly, I’ll pick for you.
“Is this going to hurt?” I whispered.
“Absolutely,” he replied. “Right, we’ll go with…”
“Hand,” I squeaked. “Can we go with your hand?”
He gave me a dark look through eyes narrowed into slits. “Hmm. In future, you’ll need to be quicker than that, but we’ll go with your choice for today. Besides, now I don’t need to run and get the paddle. We’ll save that for tomorrow.”
“Who says I’m going to be naughty tomorrow?” I said indignantly, my face creasing in annoyance.
“I do, and I’m rarely wrong,” James said. “Right, due to your trussed up nature, I’m going to have to spank you in the diaper position, and I’m afraid it’s going to hurt.”
“The what?”
James then hoisted both of my legs up in the air and put his elbow against the backs of my knees to make sure I held the position.
“You can’t do this,” I wailed, and I rattled my handcuffs a bit more for good measure. This was beyond insane at this time of the morning.
“You just have to say the word and you can go home, Lois. I don’t think you’re a good fit for this op at all, and I’m happy to tell Sharkey as much.” The look in his eye said he was more than happy to do as he said. The man had me right where he wanted me, and he knew it. Waiting for me to speak, he then gave me an almost apologetic look before beginning to rub the globes of my ass, and I could almost feel my cheeks blush in anticipation of what was to come.
“They do all of this and so much more to you in Carte Blanche, Lois. Do you know what you’re signing yourself up for?”
I didn’t trust myself to answer, so I nodded my head instead.
“I don’t think you do, but I’m going to show you in the next few days. Believe me, I’m going to show you, and in lots of detail.” There was then a short, sharp slap on my ass, and it focused me instantly. The blissful daydream that I’d been buried in had now disappeared, and my attention was focused solely on my tormentor.
“Now listen carefully, Lois. Every time you misbehave in Carte Blanche, you will be punished. That means every single time you don’t do exactly what you’re told, they’ll find a way to discipline you. Sometimes they’ll discipline you purely for their own amusement, because they get off on that kind of shit, and there’ll be nothing you can do about it. All the people in that building get turned on by suffering, and they are going to want to watch you cry. Are you prepared for that, Lois? Can you give that to them? I’ve got a week or two to try and teach you to enjoy pain, but I’m not sure it’ll be enough time. They’ll be able to spot a faker from a mile away, and if you’re found out, there’s only one way out for you – and that will be six feet underground.”
“I know the risks, James.” Humiliated as I might have been, I wanted to make it clear to James that I knew exactly what I was undertaking. Okay, I might not know the exact rules of the game, but I had a rough idea.
“You don’t. You can’t even begin to comprehend them, but why should I care? It’s your tombstone and your epitaph at the end of the day, right?”
“How do you know so much about Dumortier and his dealings anyway?” Changing the subject, as I had no wish to dwell on my imminent demise, I waited patiently for an answer. Staring at James, I found myself rather fascinated when his mouth hardened and his eyes turned into cold blue slits. It appeared he didn’t like being the object of the conversion. That was a useful little titbit to file away.
“Shut up, Lois, and start counting.”
The first solid smack crashed into my ass and took my breath away.
“After each strike of my hand, you count the number of spanks and say ‘Thank you, Sir.’ If you lose count or fail to say Sir, then we’ll begin again until you manage to remember.” His hand slammed into my backside again before I managed to get my first number out.
“One. Thank you, Sir.” Trying to speak through the haze of pain radiating up from my backside involved almost more concentration than I had. James did not go easy on me, and each swing of his palm left a trail of burning fire in its wake. When we got to ten, it was all I could do not to beg him to stop.
“Ten. Thank you, Sir.” There were tears in my eyes, but I could handle tears. What I couldn’t handle was the not knowing how many more of these I would have to endure. Another ten? No problem. Twenty? I wasn’t so sure. Any more than that was going to involve me blubbering like a baby, but I guessed that was his problem. The reason I’d come here was to learn how to take everything he had to give. This would then enable me to take everything that those men inside Carte Blanche could deal out. It would only be for a few days once I was inside the house, so the hardest part would be here and now. How long would James want me here? For how long could I ignore that beautiful face and refuse to be moved by it?
“Twenty. Thank you, Sir.” The pain was almost unbearable now, but I managed to hold the tears at bay. James wouldn’t want to see them any more than I would.
“Lois, don’t fight me.” There was another heavy thud of his hand, and I choked back another sob. I couldn’t for the life of me fathom what he meant.
“How can I fight?” I whispered between choked breaths. “You have me trussed up so tightly I can barely move.”
“Ahh. You misunderstand me, Lois.” He lowered my legs to the bed and made a clicking sound with his tongue as he thought about what to say next. Personally, I was glad of the reprieve, as it gave me a chance to catch my breath. The stinging throb his hand imparted had worked its way up and down my body. Everything prickled with pain and heat, and there was a bitter taste in my mouth as I tried not to swallow.
Rubbing his hand across his chin, he looked tired as he tried to work out what he wanted to say to me. I wondered how many hours he had put in today, and I guessed it was probably more than I had, which was saying something.
“At Carte Blanche, the men and women get off on your fear. Not all of them, but there’s a sizeable bunch of wackos who do. You need to give them what they want and quickly. The longer you take to give them a piece of yourself, the worse shape your body will be in by the end of it, because these guys won’t stop until they have what they want.” He frowned and brushed his hand over his chin again, letting me hear the soft scrape that his stubble made against his skin. “Do you understand what I’m saying, Lois?”
“You want screams, blubbering, and tears.” I got the message loud and clear.
“To be clear, Lois, that is not what I want. I’m here to teach you the skills that will enable you to stay alive long enough to go in and do what you need to do. They, however, will want tears, but that’s not all they’ll want.”
I sniffed, swallowed down a mouthful of unspent emotion, and gave him a sardonic look. “What do they want then? Blood?” I almost choked against the hysterical laughter that began to bubble up my throat, but one look at James silenced me. He was shaking his head, and there was a beautiful, soulful look on his face that spoke of depths of sadness that I could never begin to uncover. Something awful had happened to this man, and this was the first glimpse I’d been given past the façade that he normally wore.
Lifting up a damp tendril of hair that had been stuck to my forehead, James placed it gently behind my ear. His touch was horribly unsettling, but I managed not to jump at it.
“They might, but I think you’re too pretty a morsel for them to harm in that way.” My eyes flew open in shock at that, and I couldn’t prevent the reaction. “Yes, Lois. There is an awful lot you’ve yet to learn.” He blew out a long breath of hot air, which seared my skin.
“What am I missing?” I whispered.
“The whole goddamned point. But that’s why you’re here, Lois.”